Like Phrases like phrases [closed]

Question

Phrases in a sentence such as: Like a bat out of hell. Like a scowled dog. Like a rabbit in heat.

What are these "LIKE" phrases called?

Answer 1

These constructions are called similes, which are a form of figurative writing in which one thing is compared to something different for emphasis or creative description. See the definition here.

Answer 2

As tchrist and enjayem point out, they are similes. Your second example, however, should be worded "He scowled like a dog," although a better simile would be "The angry man bared his teeth like a dog with rabies."

A simile is like an expanded adjective. (See, I just used a simile!) Similes can spice up your language and get readers to draw comparisons in their minds. Instead of saying "The cat is grey," you could say, "The cat is grey, like an overcast day in London." The word as can also introduce a simile: "The day after exercising, he was as stiff as a rusty hinge." Generally speaking, the more striking your simile, the greater its impact.

Similes and metaphors are cousins, but you use a simile with words such as "like" and "as," whereas you use a metaphor without those words. Metaphor: "He was a gorilla in the boxing ring." Simile: "He was as fierce as a gorilla in the boxing ring."

An analogy can function as an extended metaphor or simile. When you compare two things, you can focus on what makes them different or what makes them similar. You might compare, for example, a court trial to a boxing match. In many ways they are dissimilar, but they are also similar in many ways. Both are competitions with a winner and a loser (one boxer wins and one loses; one lawyer wins and one loses). Instead of using fists as weapons, as boxers do in a boxing ring, lawyers use words as weapons in a trial. A boxing match and a trial both involve certain rules of behavior. A boxer must not continue to hit his opponent once he knocks his opponent down. That's a rule. Similarly, lawyers must not ask a witness a leading question, or bully a witness with words, or disrespect the judge. Those are rules.

Again, similes, metaphors, and analogies can add color to your descriptions, but as with any other figure of speech, they can be overused and become lackluster. Rather than sticking with the overused "He stuck out like a sore thumb" (meaning he was being too obvious, rather than blending in), use "She stuck out like a pregnant polevaulter!" Now there is a simile with some punch!

By the way, "like a bat out of hell" is overused. "Like a rabbit in heat" is not as common as "like a dog in heat," but as similes they are overused. Strive to be original. Avoid being overly literal. Try inventing your own figures of speech. Failing that, Google (or Bing) the words "a book of similes and metaphors," and dig in!